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THE
MORTALITY DOCTRINE
series
Reality is never what it seems.
@JamesDashner
JamesDashner.com #MortalityDoctrine
JAMES DASHNER
JAMES DASHNER
#MortalityDoctrine
DELACORTE PRESS
DELACORTE PRESS
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FirstInLineReaders #FirstInLine
8/20/15 1:22 PM
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product
of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright 2015 by James Dashner
Jacket art copyright 2015 by Richard Jones
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press,
an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, a division of
Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of
Penguin Random House LLC.
Visit us on the Web! randomhouseteens.com
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
RHTeachersLibrarians.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-385-74143-9 (hc) ISBN 978-0-375-99003-8 (lib. bdg.)
ISBN 978-0-375-98465-5 (ebook) ISBN 978-1-101-93433-3 (intl. tr. pbk.)
The text of this book is set in 12.5-point Adobe Garamond.
Book design by Stephanie Moss
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
Random House Childrens Books supports the First Amendment
and celebrates the right to read.
ATTENTION READER:
THIS IS AN UNCORRECTED ADVANCE EXCERPT.
PROLOGUE
These are some great waffles, Michael said. He was surprised at how real they tasted. Warm, buttery goodness. He
swallowed a bite and smiled.
And then Helga was there! Sweet, stern Helga. She gave
him a look as she put some dishes away. It was a look Michael had seen many times over the years. A look that said
hed better not be trying to pull a fast one on her. A look he
normally got when he faked a cough to miss school or lied
about his homework.
Dont worry, he said. This is a dream. I can have as
much as I want! He smiled and took another bite, chewed
and swallowed. I guess Gabbys still missing, havent heard
anything from her. It sure is sweet to be back with Sarah and
Bryson, though. The Terrible Trio, live and still kickin. Even
if we are crammed into a backseat. Anyway. Who wouldve
thought my life could get so weird, huh? Crazy stuff.
Helga nodded, smiled, bent over the dishwasher; the
room filled with the clank of glass and porcelain.
Michael frowned, feeling as if Helga didnt seem to care
one whit. Maybe you dont know everything, my little German. Oh, lets see. Somehow we got tricked into blowing up
the VNS systems, pretty much shut the whole thing down.
Sarahs parentswhod been kidnapped, mind youshow
up out of the blue to rescue us from jail, talking about you
and a bunch of former Tangents behind it all. You, Helga.
Care to enlighten me on that?
His nanny gave him a guilty shrug, barely pausing from
her work. Clinks and clanks rang out, the thumps of cabinet
doors closing. Michael knew it was too good to be true
2
that he could just sit there and enjoy his dream. There wasnt
a place in the universe he could run to escape his thoughts
his own mind less than anywhere else. He stabbed a last few
bites of waffle into his mouth, relishing the crisp outside and
the soft interior, sensing that the dream was about to end
anyway. And Helga had yet to say a single word to him.
I guess you cant talk to me in my dreams, can you?
Michael said. Thats just plain weird. Kaine told me hed
killed you, killed my parents. Picturing his mom and dad
sent a deep ache through his dreaming heart. Maybe you
escaped somehow? I dont know. Either way, cant you at
least live on in my head? Maybe thats too much like talking
to my
Helga turned sharply, her face afire. The Hallowed Ravine, boy. You know thats where youve got to go. Back to
the Hallowed Ravine. End it where it started!
Michael started to reply, but wouldnt you know it, that
was right when a pothole had the gall to disturb his slumber.
CHAPTER 1
ANICEPLACEINTHECOUNTRY
When Michael woke up, he had the not-so-pleasant sensation of bile rising in his throat. Not the happiest way to greet
the conscious world.
He sucked in a slow breath. He wished hed taken something for motion sickness. Sarahs dad seemed to think he
was a NASCAR driver, and the road wasnt cooperating.
Gerard the Gear Hound, the countrys next great race-car
superstar on the worlds twistiest, most torn-up track.
As they wound their way around the tight curves of the
north Georgia mountains, Michael leaned into each turn
with his entire body, as if that would somehow keep the car
on the road. Lush foliage and trees overgrown with kudzu
formed a great tunnel through a cave of green, sparkles of
sunlight winking between leaves as they drove.
Youre sure she said Helga? Michael asked once again,
his dream fresh in his mind. Go to the Hallowed Ravine.
4
Thats what shed said. Which meant, logically, that his own
mind was telling him the same thing. They had to go back to
the place where it all started if they wanted to end it. Seemed
reasonable enough.
Gerard, clutching the steering wheel as if he feared it
might try to spin away from him, sighed at the question. His
wife, Nancy, shifted in the passenger seat to face Michael.
Yes, she said with a kind smile, then turned to the front
again. Her patience made it seem as if that were the first time
Michael had asked the question, though, in fact, it was probably the fifth or sixth.
He sat in the middle of the backseat, Bryson to his left,
Sarah to his right. No one had spoken much since their initial reunion. Between being chased down, imprisoned, and
rescued, it had been a long several days, and everyone seemed
as dazed as Michael. Michael himself didnt know what to
think. Sarahs parents had been kidnapped, then rescued by
a group of mystery people. Those same mystery people had
then directed Gerard and Nancy to pick up their daughter
and her friends and take them to an address in the Appalachian Mountains.
But thered been something about Tangents. And a
woman named Helga.
It couldnt possibly be his nanny, Michael thought for
the hundredth time. Could it? His Helga was gonewasnt
she? As far as he knew, she was a Tangent that had been decommissioned by Kaine, just like his parents. At the very
least hed hastened their Decay. Real or not, their deaths had
emptied his soul, and not much had filled it since.
5
Please, the woman said, clearly frustrated by her audiences turn. Lets just sit down and talk through it all, okay?
Please. She motioned toward a circle of chairs set up near
the glowing Coffins.
Michael looked at Bryson and Sarah and shrugged, then
started for the chairs, the words true death ringing in his ears.
Lets start at the beginning, the tall woman said once theyd
all taken a seat. You need to know that I am who I say I am
before you can trust me. Helga gave the group a moment to
get settled, then turned to Michael directly, looking into his
eyes as she spoke. I was your nanny, Helga. I am Helga. A
part of me suspected that we might be Tangents, but you
were real to me, Michael. Apart from everything Kaine has
done, I think there were many of us whod taken the leap to
sentiencewhich slows down the Decay process significantly. I know you and I had taken that leap. Shed begun to
stare off into space, as if lost in a desert of old thoughts, then
came back just as fast, waving it all away. My point: you
have been and always will be like a son to me. But let me
prove it to you.
Michael furrowed his brow, looking long and hard at her,
as he thought through his options. The woman sat forward,
leaning toward him, arms resting on her knees, hands
clasped. She seemed genuine, her gaze intense and full of
pain. The rest of the room was quiet as he focused all his
15
17
CHAPTER 2
ACIRCLEOFHANDS
smile, but not them. She nodded toward the others, still
sitting in the circle of chairs.
Totally embarrassed, Michael composed himself, wiped
the tears from his cheeks. Then he turned to face his friends.
Its her, he said with all the force he could muster after
making such a scene. I dont know how to explain it, but I
know its her.
Surprisingly, it was Sarah who showed the most doubt.
Well, youre going to have to figure out a way to explain it,
Michael. We cant just hand our lives over to this lady. What
she did . . . stealing a body . . . its no better than what Kaines
doing.
The last word had barely come out of her mouth before
the rest of the group erupted into chatter, talking on top of
talking, until Michael shouted for them to shut up.
Listen to me! he said, looking straight at his friends and
Sarahs parents. You dont have a clue what its like to be a
Tangent. We might be a bunch of code to you guys, but I
cant accept that. Theres more to us. I know it. Im a person,
I have a mind, I can think for myself, and I dont care what
anyone else says. I mean, I could just as easily be programmed
as Helga. At some point you have to go with your heart! My
parents were real, as far as Im concerned, until Kaine wiped
them out. And Helga . . . shes like a grandma to me. This is
Helga. I know it.
Grandma? Helga asked. Really?
Sorry. Best aunt ever.
Sarah walked up to stand right in front of Michael, and
she stared at him for several seconds. Youre sure?
19
The Hive. The words jarred Michael, and his group quieted.
He looked at Sarah and Bryson and nodded to the chairs.
Can we listen to what she has to say, guys? he asked. The
group didnt answer, but everyone sat back down, ready to
hear her out.
The Hive, she repeated, once everyone was settled.
20
Kaine created itfor what ultimate purpose were not completely sureand he protects it and maintains it, and weve
figured out how to get there. To break in, I should say. The
Hive is the key to everything, the key to restoring things to
the way they were, beforeHelga gestured to herself
sadly all this.
But what is the Hive? Sarah insisted. Weve never
heard of it.
Ah, yes, Helga said quietly, of course. The Hive is
where intelligence is stored. Intelligences, actually. Plural.
You mean, like the brain of the VirtNet? Bryson asked.
Helga shook her head. No, nothing like that. Its a quantum storage facility. It has the capacity to store massive
amounts of data, including backups of Tangent programs.
Weve discovered that its also where a consciousness is sent
when a Tangent takes over a body. Where the mind is stored.
Helga turned to Michael. Whats the name of the person
you replaced? Jackson Park?
Porter, Michael corrected her.
Yes, Porter. Well, Kaine didnt destroy him when he enacted the Mortality Doctrine on you. It doesnt work that
way. Again, for reasons we dont know, the intelligence,
the . . . memories, the personality, the knowledge of Jackson
Porter, must be preserved. We have theoriesfor instance, it
might be a necessary part of the process. For the human
body left behind to survive, the consciousness might need to
be kept alive as well. If such a connection was completely
severed, who knows if the physical body could handle it.
What Im saying is that your body still has a link to Jackson
21
turning off his screen. He was medium height, had dark hair,
and wore a look of such intensity that Michael wondered if
his face hurt.
This is Walter Carlson, Helga announced as he approached, temporary replacement for one Keith Sproles,
whose intelligence lies in wait within the Hive, from which
one day he will be returned. Her tone had a note of respect
to it, as if she wanted them to know she didnt take lightly
these borrowed bodies and stored intelligences.
Hey, Walter, Bryson said.
Michael reached out and shook the mans hand; Sarah did
likewise.
We try our best to remember who we are and what weve
done to those we replaced, Helga explained. As for myself,
Im the temporary replacement of Brandi Hambrick, whose
intelligence lies in wait within the Hive, from which one day
she will be returned.
Michael nodded, hoping the sudden and unexpected fear
he felt wasnt showing on his face. What did this all mean for
him? Was Jackson Porter really out there somewhere, waiting to come back to his body? If he was stored, was he aware?
Conscious? Thinking? Or was it more like cold storage? Meat
in a freezer. Hed thought about Jackson a lot, but now the
thought felt like a cold blade in his side. He was scared, plain
and simple.
Nice to meet you, ladies and gents, Walter said, snapping Michael back to the present. Weve heard a lot about
you. Helga has a hard time shutting up about you, actually.
Shes right as rain, though, when she says were on the same
24
they stood there with the hot breeze rustling their clothes,
the sun baking their virtual skin.
Close your eyes, Helga instructed. Access the code.
Stay close. Then follow my lead.
She paused, then added:
No matter how much it hurts.
29
CHAPTER 3
AKNOCKATTHEDOOR
Its not, Helga replied. Then she reached out with virtual hands and started manipulating the code. Numbers and
letters transformed into building blocks, pipes, sheets of
thick plastic-like matter, glass panes, cut lumber. They
swirled and twisted and flipped, connecting to each other in
perfect geometric fashion to create a device that fascinated
the eye. Michael watched carefully as she did it. He uploaded
the digits shed just sent him, then began the same process,
transforming the code into a visual manifestation of the
quantum path shed set up. It was all new to him, but he had
enough experience to catch on quickly.
Bryson and Sarah mimicked Michael, and quickly they
had objects orbiting them, growing and connecting, then
expanding. Bigger and bigger and more and more complex
the structures grew, until Helga suddenly stopped her construction and fused what shed been building to Michaels,
doubling its size, then to Sarahs and Brysons.
The group worked together on the same structure until it
was large enough that they floated within it. It resembled an
enormous sphere, almost solid, so that it was smooth on the
inside and they could no longer see its outer surface. Above
their heads was an open space, and as they continued to
work, they released new threads up and out. Michael imagined them completing the outside of the structure, making it
larger by the minute. The whole thing was unlike anything
hed ever done, but he understood the theory. Kind of. They
were creating a visual representation of quantum code that
Helga said would transport them to a normally inaccessible
place within the Sleep.
31
DASHNER
THE
GAME LIVES
REALITY
IS NEVER
WHAT IT SEEMS.
OF
#MortalityDoctrine
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